War in the Middle East is pushing up the price of bitumen, the material used to make asphalt and road surfaces – and the effects are being felt across Africa, where few countries produce their own. Higher costs and longer delivery times are forcing firms from Madagascar to Guinea to Cameroon to renegotiate contracts, absorb…
The World Cup officially kicked off this week – but alongside the football, there are questions around heat, cost, the environmental impact and travel restrictions. The BBC Analysis Editor Ros Atkins takes a look at the challenges facing this year’s tournament.
A customer shops for gold jewelry at a gold store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, on June 3, 2026. Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images China’s wholesale prices rose at the fastest pace in nearly four years in May, driven by surging raw material costs due to the Iran war and an artificial intelligence investment…
Geneva/Mogadishu — This is a summary of what was said by the UNICEF Chief of Global Transport and Logistics, Jean-Cedric Meeus – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva “Nearly 100 days into the latest Middle East escalation, the fallout extends far beyond…
South African small businesses continue to face pressure from persistently high and volatile fuel costs, with fluctuations at the pumps adding ongoing strain to already tight operating margins. Even with the temporary fuel price increase relief measures extended until the end of June 2026, this environment represents sustained financial pressure that extends far beyond fuel itself….
The AI rally continued this earnings season. But companies building the underlying hardware powering the boom warned that the Iran war is putting pressure on their supply chains and profitability. A spiraling conflict in the Middle East has seen oil prices skyrocket and supply chains crucial to the tech sector hamstrung. Shortages of key chipmaking…
In its latest earnings report, Nintendo announced a price hike for the Switch 2, raising the U.S. retail price by $50 to a new total of $500. The company cited increased memory costs and new U.S. tariff measures as the primary drivers behind the adjustment. While this increase is notably more modest than the $150…
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut has called on Lebanon’s government to further its engagement with Israel – and tacitly, to sideline the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah which, while designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel, has been a massive force in Lebanese politics for decades. “Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Its people have a…
3m ago Trump says he spoke with Putin about Iran President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Iran earlier Wednesday. “I talked about Ukraine, and I talked a little bit about Iran,” Mr. Trump said. “I talked about a few different subjects, mostly about…
Jeremy Engelbrecht, Managing Director, SoftiDoc. For banks, insurers and retailers, onboarding customers has long been a time-consuming and costly process, prone to delays and possible errors and risk. AI-enabled automation allows organisations to slash the time taken to onboard new customers, dramatically reduce costs and improve accuracy and efficiency. This is according to Jeremy Engelbrecht,…
